Every now and then I’ll use this blog to whine or kvetch about certain things in the world of food and wine that piss me off. I won’t do it too often — just when the bile rises to an unacceptable level and starts to affect my appetite.
So, to waitstaff:
I’d like to propose that the waiter’ s expression, “ You still workin’ on that?” be banned. If eating a meal in a restaurant is work, let them pay us instead of the other way around. Maybe this odd phrase comes from the waiter’s hidden desire to even the playing field, to make us all workers together in the great proletariat restaurant in the sky. ‘Back to work, Comrades! Clean those plates!’ Waiting on tables is an art form – or should be. A waitperson worth his/her salt offers us a very complex persona – a subtle combination of servant and expert. They exist to understand our desires and manifest them; they’re listeners; they’re advisers; they’re hosts and the mediators between the volatile world of the kitchen and the serene, welcoming aura of the dining room.
…………………………………………The phrase, “You still workin’ on that?” just doesn’t cut it.
And single-malt whiskeys.
Okay, I can’ t really intelligently comment on them because I’ m not a scotch drinker — let me stipulate that, your honor. But my complaint is about this tendency – actually an advertising ploy – to revere things and thereby charge more for them because they’re “single”.Single-barrel bourbon, single-vineyard wine, single-hops beer and single-bean coffee – inevitably cost more than their blended cousins, but the jacked-up price is often more an indication of our gullibility than a mark of the product’s higher quality. I tend to like blends. Sagrantino wine of Montefalco, which demands fifty bucks and more a bottle, is not as pleasing to my tongue as the Rosso di Montefalco, which is a blend of 30 % Sagrantino, 60% Sangiovese, and 10% either Cabernet or Merlot – depending on the winemaker. And the Rosso costs under ten bucks. Blends often indicate that intelligence, taste and expertise have gone into the production of the wine, whiskey or coffee. So don’t let anyone fool you into paying a higher price for something that may well not be a superior product.
If you see, for example, an ad for single-cow homogenized milk, take a breath and move on.
Hey Mike, brings back memories of dining with you, Jill, Chuck and the “gang”at Lark Creek Inn. Was a long time ago, wasn’t it? That was when we first saw guys throw their credit cards into the middle of the table for the purpose of splitting up the bill.
Yes, yes, yes! And how ’bout when a waiter says “Hey, guys” – as his/her intro.
Bugs me!
Not sure I agree with you about sagrantino, but I’d be more than willing to drink my share of a bottle of montefalco rosso in an effort to find out. But in general, right: “single malt” is sort of like “pure stock,” isn’t it?
A similar complaint when purchasing something in a shop – the clerk says, “Is that all?” As if no matter what I spend, it’s not enough. It doesn’t matter if the purchase is $25 or $500. A nice “thank you” would be sufficient.
Any other kvetches? How about being rushed through a meal because they want to turn your table as soon as possible?
Thanks for the info about the Rosso di Montefalco. I’ve been searching for a Sagrantino that we had in a cute little pizzeria (Il Verziere) in Montefalco when we visited Umbria in September. I’m on a waiting list for it with some liquor store in California that I found after a google search…But in the meantime, after reading your post about the Rosso, I found a very nice one at Eataly in NYC. (2007 Arnaldo-Caprai).
As you said, a lot cheaper and very delicious!
I do still want to find the 2005 Scacciadiavoli Sagrantino though….I’m on a mission.